Thursday, September 9, 2021

Grave Tales #23: Mieczyslaw “James” Zacharski


I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.

I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.

While I was photographing the grave of one of my earlier subjects, Ronald Pytel, the Vatican-approved miracle priest, in Holy Rosary Cemetery, I spotted the grave of Mieczyslaw “James” Zacharski. I am always moved by the graves of youngsters so I had to investigate how this boy died at the tender age of ten. Here's the tragic tale:

The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 23 October 1904, Sunday:


BOY KILLED ON CAR
----------
James Zacharski Said To Have Been
Stealing A Ride.

     James Zacharski, 11 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Zacharski, 1733 Canton avenue, was killed yesterday evening while stealing a ride, it is said, on a Madison avenue car. Those who witnessed the accident said the lad jumped on the car at the foot of the Broadway Market about 6.30 o'clock, and while it was passing between Lancaster and Aliceanna streets he was caught between the car and the truck wagon of Joseph Volz, of Rossville, Baltimore county, which was standing beside the track.
     The boy fell into the street in a semi-conscious condition and was picked up by Mr. Volz and Charles Miller, of 2219 Portugal court, who carried him to the office of Dr. John Rehberger, 1797 Aliceanna street, where he died in 30 minutes. Death was caused by a puncture of the left lung from a fractured rib, the physician said. The boy's left arm was also broken, and his face was bruised.
     Coroner Sudler, of the Eastern district, was notified, and an inquest will be held this morning

Stealing a ride? Really? I don't think James was some sort of criminal. I'm sure it was just youthful hijinks, the same way skateboarders would hang onto cars decades later. Still, streetcars weren't to be trifled with, as my previous subject Hyman Greenberg learned.

I also can't help but wonder if his lung got punctured when they lifted James to take him to the doctors. I am not doubting their good intentions, but moving someone with those injuries is dangerous.

Here's the result of the inquest:

The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 25 October 1904, Tuesday:


Jury Exonerates Motorman.

      The jury summoned by Coroner Sudler to investigate the circumstances attending the death of James Zacharski, 11 years old, 1733 Canton avenue, who was killed Saturday night in the Broadway Market by being crushed between a trolley car and a wagon, met last night at the Eastern Police District and decided that Zacharski had been killed through his own carelessness. The conductor and motorman of the car were exonerated.

The story about the inquest made me wonder if there was more to the incident than initially reported. If James simply grabbed onto the side of the streetcar to take a ride, and was accidentally crushed against a truck, why were the conductor and motorman on "trial." It makes me conclude that they were aware of the boy's presence. Were they supposed to stop and remove him? It also makes me think that one or both of them must have interacted with the lad in a way which could have potentially resulted in the his death. What other explanation was there? Obviously, the motorman didn't steer into or toward the truck. The street car was on rails! 

That said, the decision of the inquest jury couldn't change one thing: James Zacharski was dead. I'm sure his loss, and the dashed promise of his young life, lingered with his family until their own deaths. His parents both died in 1944, and all of his siblings are gone now too.

To me, the deceased remain a presence in this world as long as people remember them. I wonder how many people have thought about that eleven-year-old boy recently. Other than us that is.  Everyone who reads this story is keeping his memory alive.

I like that.

The inscription is in Polish.  Norm Wilhelm translated it as:

Here lies Mieczysław Zacharski
Born 9 February 1894
Died 22 October 1904
Asks for a sigh to God

Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one...

Grave Tales:

My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting. 


Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here:


Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An Introduction
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The House
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is Us
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, Arrival
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, Methodology
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's Tale
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3

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1 comment:

  1. simplelifeSeptember 20, 2021 at 5:26 AM

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